Rant: I live in the coldest place in the US

Exhibit A:
32º
September 30th, 2004
4:13AM, EST


Exhibit B:
27º
October 6th, 2004
4:12AM, EST

and on top of that, the Weather Channel is giving a "Feel Like" temperature of 21ºF...

we only had two months or less of summer. this is outrageous.


this map here is to give you a better idea of where exactly i am. you'll see Caribou, ME. well i live a 10 minute drive south of Caribou (and Caribou is actually where the "2" is).

now is it just me, or is ME supposed to be part of Canada? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif

How are summer temperatures there? I personally wouldn't complain about temps like those if it meant I could enjoy 50° to 60° highs in the summers (as opposed to 80s or 90s plus humidity in NYC). You could always bundle up more in cold weather. With some of the summer weather we have in NYC you could walk around stark naked and still be sweating bullets.

that is the bonus of living here. very comfortable summers (well, that and very colorful autumns). our average temperatures are in the lower 60's to the lower 70's from June thru August (i would guess 68º as the average daytime temperature), and we usually only get one, maybe two heatwaves the whole summer. it's just such a shame that summer's so short! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif

According to the National Weather Service, based on mean temperatures, in the continental United States (The Lower 48):

The coldest town (12 months): Leadville, Colorado

The warmest town (12 Months): Key West, Florida

The town with the coldest winters (Dec, Jan, Feb): International Falls, Minnesota.

The town with the hottest summers (Jun, Jul, Aug): Yuma, Arizona

The Coldest Place in America (12 months): Mount Washington, New Hampshire

Death Valley, California has the hottest Summers (Jun, Jul, Aug) in America but is a place not a Town or City

Jim Skinner

well as of now, Leadville, International Falls, and Mount Washington all have some catching up to do. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/au.gif

Sorry but it's 24F on top of Mount Washington.

Jim Skinner

where are you getting this from? i'm using the old fashioned Weather Channel.com /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif

Edit:
plus, isn't that on top of a mountain? i'll bet it's a more even match here in Maine on top of Mount Katahdin. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif it probly feels like it's 5ºF on top of a mountain here in the northeast!

Also see that "cold spot" in Upstate NY? It's not far from Lake Placid - a VERY small town called "Old Forge" - too small to be an "offical" NWS station, but I remember that they told me that it was usually colder than International falls, but not as bad as Mt Washington (which is just brutal - the average annual temp on Mt washington is below freezing).

I remember going skiing at Lake Placid, waking up one morning, and making the mistake of looking at the thermometer - 42 below F!!! Yes, it was cold on the slopes that day

i hate the ring that term has. "below zero". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

Mt. Washington Current Conditions

The Statistics I use are from the National Weather Service. There may be colder places in the US, but there not official monitoring sites.

Jim Skinner

On the plus side, I bet you get to use your snowmobile more than most, plus I bet it's about a 5 or 10 minute drive to work -- no rush hour traffic for you, I'm sure.

Think about a driver in LA fighting to and from work for an hour each day, breathing fumes and enduring sweltering temps.

Here in Nova Scotia, it was about 26F or about -3C this morning.

I've hiked Mount Washington several times and I've never seen it above the 50s but geeze should it count? It is a mountain afterall, although "only" 6280 feet. Aren't some of those 10,000 feet plus mountains in the west colder?

Jim, thanks for the link. that provides much better information than the Weather Channel!

PB, i personally don't own a snowmobile as i live in an apartment and i'm in college right now, but i make sure to borrow others quite often!

snowmobiling is probly the biggest money maker we have here. usually trails open from November until March (tho we get our first snowfall in October and our last in April or May).

to work is indeed 5-10 minutes. depending how deep in the woods you live. the only time we've ever had traffic jams are when there were the two huge Phish concerts about 20 minutes away from here, since we've got the largest population here in Aroostook County.

clean air always! there are nothing but tree's in every direction! it's beautiful, but it's really boring. this is a place to live when you're a bit older. there are almost no job or career opportunities most of the time, and there's nothing (seriously/literally nothing) for kids to do.

G, i would imagine they get cold out there. don't they have snow year-round on some peaks?

[ QUOTE ]
Frame57 said:
Sorry but it's 24F on top of Mount Washington.

Jim Skinner

[/ QUOTE ]

I have traveled and worked in a lot of cold places- North Dakota, eastern Montana, Prudhoe Bay Alaska. However, Mount Washington NH has got to be one of the wildest weatherwise. I hiked up Mt. Washington once in early October and ended up lost for a few hours in a whiteout with 20F temps and 70mph wind gusts. Luckily I was prepared with lots of wool, goretex, mittens etc.

A very satisfying experience for a weather-freak like myself.

Mt. Washington has the highest winds and weirdest weather, but lots of peaks in the Rockies and Cascades are colder. Mt. Washington has the weather station to document everything, though.

And lets not forget that Alaska is part of the US guys!

Average temps at Nome and Prudhoe Bay etc. must be colder than any mentioned.

I KNOW that Mt McKinley must be colder than the others mentioned here!!

Bill

Yes Alaska is colder and Hawaii is warmer, but if you go back to my first post you'll see that I quoted for the continental 48 states not Alaska or Hawaii.

Last winter it got down to -42 F on Mount Washington with 70-80 MPH winds at one point. That combination is as bad as anything your going to see in Alaska.

An intersting note, Key West, Florida is the only city in the continental (Lower 48) United States. That has never recorded a temperature below 32F. The lowest temperature ever recorded was 41F on Jan 12 1886, and Jan 13 1981.

Jim Skinner

move

My wife's stepsister is going to maine.edu. Southern, though, I think. Certainly not as far up as you are... BRRRR. That reminds me I owe her a check for some work she did. Sounds like she needs to buy some winter stuff asap!

Eat State Of Maine Soldier baked beans. Yum. Protein. Warms you up. Can't find those down here in Boston. Don't know why.

Hey don't you have lots of other advantages up there? I went to college in NH and you couldn't beat the truck stop & diner food for late-night nutrition. Real blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup. Great pies. Yum. And waitresses who call you "Hon" as they refill your cheap coffee. Then back to the books.

(I didn't eat enough breakfast today can you tell?)

I'm just a little South of Boston and here in my garage office/workshop the baseboard heating is coming on every 15 minutes. It's turning to winter!

[ QUOTE ]
Frame57 said:
Sorry but it's 24F on top of Mount Washington.

Jim Skinner

[/ QUOTE ]

no fair, Mt. Washington is not a place.... it's an iceberg!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif or at least from what i've seen in pictures.

Ryan,
Anytime you want to trade houses, let me know. Summers here in North Texas are just flat out bad. I mean, typically, the official start of summer comes when you hear about the first reports of roofing crews and elderly actually DYING from the heat. Bad times. I often sit and wonder about a place like Maine, and if it really exists. I would give up everything I have here to move to Maine. Sounds great to me.

But are there any jobs there?